Posted on 07/21/2003 12:38:09 PM PDT by knighthawk
Wants independent judge should find out who killed her
The Iranian government's inquiry into the death of Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi suggests she went through 77 hours of interrogation at the hands of police, prosecutors and intelligence officials before the blow that fractured her skull and caused her to bleed to death.
Ms. Kazemi ''refused to eat and took only water'' during the interrogation and refused to answer questions, the report says.
It does not say how Ms. Kazemi suffered the fatal blow, but concludes an independent judge should be appointed to find those responsible.
Ms. Kazemi, 54, died on July 11 after being beaten in an Iranian prison. She was arrested on June 23 while photographing student-led demonstrations at Evin prison, north of Tehran.
The Iranian report includes an hour-by-hour narrative of her captivity, starting with her arrest outside Evin.
The report says Ms. Kazemi was taken to a cell after she refused to produce her accreditation. She was interrogated by the assistant Tehran public prosecutor until the early hours of June 24 ''during a part of which time the prosecutor [Saeed Mortazavi, nicknamed "the butcher of the press"] was present.''
The report suggests between her arrest on June 23 and her hospitalization on June 27, she was questioned for 21 hours by prosecutors, then for the next 26 hours by police. The prosecutors then returned for another four hours of questioning before the final 26 hours of interrogation by intelligence ministry officials.
Late on June 26, 'The officers leading the interrogation noticed that the prisoner was not in a normal condition."
Taken back to her cell at around 9 p.m., ''she started to bleed from her nostrils and she began vomiting blood."
She was taken to hospital and pronounced brain-dead on the afternoon of June 27, but was kept on life support until the announcement of her death from a stroke was made on July 11.
The contents of the 14-page report were broadcast yesterday on Iranian television. The report was commissioned by Mohammad Khatami, the Iranian President, to look into the practices of his country's secret service.
Canadian Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday they were in the dark about the report.
Despite its release in Iran, Reynald Doiron, the Foreign Affairs spokesman, said the Canadian ambassador in Tehran was informed he would not be told anything until at least today. The ambassador, Philip MacKinnon, has already complained that Canada is being shut out of Iran's investigation.
Embassy officials have not been given access to the results of an autopsy performed on Ms. Kazemi's body and Canadian offers to contribute to the investigation have been declined.
Meeting yesterday with a senior Iranian official, Mr. MacKinnon reminded him that Iran's foreign minister made a commitment last week to Bill Graham, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, to pass along the official investigation results as soon as possible.
Also yesterday, Mr. Doiron said Mr. MacKinnon gave the Iranian government a diplomatic note officially asking for Ms. Kazemi's body to be returned to Montreal.
He said there was no word on whether the remains will be returned, but ''we hope the Iranian government will respect the family's wish.''
The diplomatic note was prepared after a conference call Saturday with Ms. Kazemi's only child, Stephan Hachemi of Montreal, and her mother in Iran, who has previously disagreed about where the photojournalist should be buried.
''There is now a consensus within the family to have Mrs. Kazemi's remains returned to Canada,'' Mr. Doiron said.
Ms. Kazemi's son accused Ottawa yesterday of not doing enough to repatriate the body. He has been campaigning unsuccessfully to bring her body to Canada. He blames the Canadian government for the lack of results.
''They say they've asked for the body. Bravo. But did they get it? Should I say thanks a lot for asking? I'm sure they're supporting me, but very passively.
"It's my right to have the body back,'' Mr. Hachemi said at a news conference.
''The [Canadian] Prime Minister has promised justice. I want them to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.'' Mr. Hachemi, 26, said Canada's government has the power to recover his mother's body, but appears to lack the will. ''They're embarrassed by the public pressure, and they don't want to lose their links with Iran. They just want this situation to go away.
''They make promises, and nothing happens. This just doesn't touch their hearts.''
CanWest News Service and The Gazette, with files from Agence France-Presse
Meaning - Chretien will submarine any investigation for the sake of preserving his family's Iranian oil investments.
Do a google search of "totalfinaelf iran"
What is Canada going to do about it, send in the Snowbirds (unarmed air "force" weenies...)?
Embassy officials have not been given access to the results of an autopsy performed on Ms. Kazemi's body and Canadian offers to contribute to the investigation have been declined.
Wonder if that 'dis' by Iran would have anything at all to do with the Chretien government's lauded "strength through weakness" approach to foreign policy?
Short answer: NO.
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